


The Ball

by kalypsobean



Category: Sharpe - All Media Types
Genre: Book: Sharpe's Waterloo, Gen, Movie: Sharpe's Waterloo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-13
Updated: 2015-06-13
Packaged: 2018-04-04 05:20:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4126761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalypsobean/pseuds/kalypsobean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur's reaction to Sharpe turning up at the ball.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ball

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this prompt](http://look-sharpe.livejournal.com/175441.html?thread=914769#t914769) at the [look_sharpe Waterloo anniversary prompt meme](http://look-sharpe.livejournal.com/175441.html) at LiveJournal. Please come and play!

Only Sharpe would not think to change his clothes before barging in on the gentry like such. Arthur is amused and shocked, almost in equal measure, but as the silence falls like a wave across the crowd, he can't help but hide a chuckle.

Only _Sharpe_.

 

Though it cannot be anything but obvious to the man that he's attracting far more attention to himself than necessary, Arthur can admire Sharpe's guts, for of course someone whose experience of the army was in trenches and on dirt fields, coming from using blades of grass for cover and a gradual, learned resignation to the cries of the wounded, would not put stock in social niceties before the fighting of the God damned war. Many of the men here, with their fine uniforms and lofty secondhand tales, do not know what it is like; they have never fought, and only took their commissions in hope of increasing their status and allure. 

Arthur, for all that he used to be one of them, before he clawed his way out of debt and his brothers' shadows, is glad to see their eyes widen, their hands covering their noses and mouths. He almost considers letting Sharpe wander among them, prolonging the moment, but then the smell reaches him, and for all his years, he still dislikes it.

"What is it?" Arthur says, knowing Sharpe will get to the point and respect him for not delaying with introductions and polite greetings. A good man, Richard Sharpe, and one to whom Arthur remains most profoundly grateful.

 

In another world, they could have been friends. In this world, Richard Sharpe is Arthur's creation, a culmination of all Arthur's work in one man, raised up from nothing to become a weapon, reliable and true. And if the women turn away from him, if the men complain of the smell and the dirt, then Arthur knows it is because, unlike Sharpe, they do not understand war, and he has no use for them. French blood will stain all their clothes before they can go home and tell their stories.


End file.
